Category Archives: INTERVIEWS

I can’t put into words how excited I was to be in front of Alan Rickman. I have been a drama actress for several years in the past and a huge fan of all his plays and movies. Personally I think he is one of the best we have out there and we’ve ever had. It has been an enormous pleasure and honor to have the chance to interview this extraordinary man and artist

The theme of the festival this year is Be Different, have you ever felt different as a child?

“Yes I felt different as a child in the sense of that my father died when I was 8 years old so I didn’t have the childhood that all the kids have, in that sense. But I was also very lucky because I went to a school that encouraged differences; there was a boy in my school who was studying Physics and Arts and it was allowed”

What would Snape say to young adults to explain them this theme?

“I think you should ask J.K. Rowling what he would say. He has always been a character that she kept very close to her heart and never let the secret out, but I think it’s no secret that everything he did was guided by love but he kept it all inside. We live in an age where most adults and young adults always have their heads down on a phone. There is too much pressure from social media, too much bullying, so their life it’s really beautiful and dangerous now. We have a lot of young people suiciding because of the pressure to conform and the power of the internet. So i think that festivals like this are crucial in bringing teenagers together and giving them a sense of their own power. A message like Be Different couldn’t be more important” He said moving me and my colleagues, we all couldn’t help clapping in agreeing with his beautiful and true words

Have you read J.K. Rowling’s new material and is there a possibility for you to take part in a sequel of the saga based on her latest work?

“My wife is reading her books and she thinks they are terrific. I haven’tread them yet. As for the sequel, I don’t know if there’s going to be one, but I’m so dead anyways” he laughs

How is it different acting for children and acting for adults?

“If the story is powerful it is the same, if you want, adults can become children. If I like anything about the job I do is the silence that happens in a cinema or a theatre when people are lost in a story. So i don’t do that distinction, it’s just people”

What was it like moving from being an actor to a director in cinema and theatre and eventually, which one would you prefer?

“It’s more difficult to pass from actor to director in theatre, because in cinema you are surrounded by experts who help you. In terms of talking to the actors you learn to believe that less is more.Every other part of it is very practical, it’s about money and weather. But also the story has to guide you. I wouldn’t direct anything that’s better than I am, you got to have something that leads you and then when you read it, images jump out of the text, then you surround yourself with people that bring to life those images, it’s a huge group effort. In theatre I think it’s more singular. It’s all difficult and it’s all easy” he laughs “you just have to stay opened I think. As for which one I prefer, you know, a piece of theatre takes about 6 weeks of your life in terms of beginning till it’s done. I just finished 18 months with this film. I don’t know, I don’t want to direct another film tomorrow for sure” he jokes

Can you tell me a little bit about your next movie A Little Chaos?

“Sure, but first let me tell you that I made another movie about a year ago and it’s coming out soon in Italy and it’s called Una Promessa and I’m proud of that film. And I’m just done with the editing of A Little Chaos. It takes place at the court of Louis the 14th, some of it it’s true. It’s basically about the building of one of the fountains and some of it is false because we say that it’s a woman, played by Kate Winslet, who built that fountain and considering the time, it would be complete fantasy. Apart from watching the fountain grow, my film is a great love story” It was shown at the last night of the Toronto Film Festival just a few weeks ago

Little Chaos is a love story, is there also something about the history and is there a chance that Louis the 14th is going to be played by you?

“The movie is part true and part a complete invention by a female screenwriter, so I guess it’s written from a feminist point of view at the court of Louis the 14th. The history comes when she experiences what it’s like to be a woman, who was just seen as an object at their time, in a male court. And yes, I do play Louis the 14th”

Do you have any theatre project?

“I would always be involved in theatre when I can organize it because it’s like a religion to me. I just have no time now” I feel you Alan

You are very involved in society and humanity causes. In this hard time that we are living in, what kind of actions would you want to happen?

“All I can say is that I’m very involved in training young actors in England, so whenever I talk to them I say ‘Don’t think about acting, listen to music, go to museums, watch a painting, read newspapers, get your own ideas on things’. Great scripts make your life better, but all people cares about is the collision between a great script and an actor’s imagination and that’s the same as being angry, happy or disgusted about what happens today”

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When I met Richard Gere, I almost passed out. But, unlike my mother, I kept it together… LOL. No, for real, who hasn’t dreamed about having Vivian’s fairytale with prince charming Edward coming on a limo for the rescue?! Now, let me tell you that the press conference with him, made me discover an amazing and inspiring man who enlightened me and my colleagues with pearls of wisdom and great thoughts. As soon as he entered the room, he greeted all of us with a great and gorgeous smile before saying:

“Let me just say that I’m really, really happy to be here. I always take every chance I can to come to Italy, it’s very important to me, I have so many friends here.I’m with my son and we both are glad to be here, especially in the Amalfi Coast, to be part of this Festival who’s importance is to connect young adults from all over the world. This has an amazing impact on the planet so thank you”

No, thank YOU Richard, but let’s get serious here, we have some questions to ask

When, in your life and career, you felt like you had to make deals and compromises with Hollywood?

“This is funny. Everybody has this idea of Hollywood as a voracious monster. It’s just a place where people make movies, it’s not a big deal. We all have to make deals with our own demons, it has nothing to do with Hollywood” I couldn’t agree more, my dear

Your choice of playing a homeless in your next movie, has anything to do with the economic crush we have been experiencing for a few years now?

“Actually it’s interesting, because the original script of that movie was written 25 years ago and, you know, the details changed a little bit, but the real problems of homelessness, the personal issues and struggles haven’t changed at all. To play this role I already had an experience with an association in New York which is the only place in the world where BY LAW has to be given a bed to this people. So in this movie, we follow this man’s process of becoming a homeless and going through bureaucracy of New York, but also the personal journey to be able to get a human connection again” the actor explains

You talked a lot about the respect towards other species and your movie Hachiko represents the real love that animals can give us. What’s your message to young adults about the respect towards our planet?

“I would like to clarify that I’m not a vegetarian, I eat fish and chicken sometimes, I absolutely don’t eat red meat” Just like me Richard “I think eventually I won’t eat animals at all. Not only from a religious, cultural, emotional, psychological point of view, but also from a scientific point of view we are all on the same planet, we all react to each other, no one exists just on his own side, we are all responsible for each other. A friend of mine who was going to have a child, is a student of the Dalai Lama and one time he asked him ‘How can we give extraordinary values to our child?’. The Dalai Lama remained silent for a minute then he said ‘Teach him how the respect the life of an insect’ which is maybe ugly, maybe scary, doesn’t look like us, appears to be insignificant, but if you teach a child to see an insect as someone with a life, a family who’s only looking to achieve real happiness, just like us, that’s very transforming”

Everybody knows you are a pacifist, what’s your opinion on this bloody world?

“You know, I remember when my Zen teacher in Japan told me that he didn’t make important decisions till he got the speed of his heart down to 7 breaths a minute. Meaning that human beings tend to make very emotional decisions about things and, usually, emotions are just the surface and not very reliable. They are not based on anything profound. The surface of things is related to the selfish idea of the ‘I am’, on that base, everything is about MY life, MY security, MY happiness. If you could leave the surface, go deeper and see things from a more rational point of view you will see that we all behave to causes and so you can understand why you behave in a certain way and why the others behave in a certain other way. The violence that we have today is caused by people seeing humanity as individuals and I don’t trust that at all. But I’m optimistic about human beings because we are, naturally, creatures of kindness and respond to love, care and security and we behave towards each other. With that knowledge problems won’t even exist, because that’s who we really are” he says

With all the beautiful things you’re saying, I can’t help thinking about your career. In more than fifty movies you always had good characters, just a few villains. In what measure your private life affects your roles choice?

“Oh, it’s nothing separate. You see, making movies to me is just a job. But there’s nothing in my life that is separate from me. I think I never accepted a job where I didn’t find something in it that would respond to a higher level inside of me. Of course I made some bad choices sometimes, we don’t always have control on things”

Your colleagues are getting into TV Shows everyday more, and we have great products nowadays, would that be an option for you too?

“This is very much of a transition time for movies. The studios don’t make the kind of movies they made when I started anymore. For my new movie we had a really small budget and 21 days to shoot it. One has to work in a really strict environment to make a more serious movie and we all have to adjust to that now. Truth is that in television, cables have huge budgets and they can do more experimental things and it’s not normal TV, they do extraordinary products” Richard admits

Why do you think Hollywood changed so much, why do we have more quality in a TV Show than in a comedy movie?

“A lot of it has to do with how expensive it is to release a movie basically. Just the costs of releasing a movie are higher than the costs of making it. These cables have already the whole package”

Is there one of your previous roles what you would like to repeat?

“Oh no, once a character is done, it’s done” he laughs

It doesn’t really matter, does it? We just enjoy the view of your incredible talent and ageless beauty

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Based on the namesake movie from 1985, Teen Wolf has been a sensation right from season one.

I had a press conference the other day with one of the most loved characters and very sweet guy, Dylan O’Brien, who plays Stiles Stilinski, BFF of the main character in the serie.

Do you watch any other tv serie? And if you do in which one would you like to play a role?

“No, only Teen Wolf” he jokes “I think House of Cards is been my favorite for the past two years that it’s been on, The Walking Dead, I’ve always wanted to be a zombie on that one and I almost was actually. I knew someone who worked on the show so I had to go and play the zombie for a day at the premiere of the 4th season, but I had to shoot The Maze Runner so I couldn’t”

Obviously you are really famous among teenagers, who’s display of affection can be pretty wild. How do you deal with it and would you want to go back to be anonymous sometimes?

“It’s taking a lot to get used to it. I’m very shy and I have anxiety, you’re right, it can be overwhelming. I would love to just be able to go to Ralph’s and not have to take a picture, you know, just be treated like a normal person because I am and people sometimes forget that. But at the end of the day it’s not that bad” admits

In The Maze Runner, your character is in a crazy and scary situation. How would you behave if you were in the same situation?

“I would like to say that I would react the exact same way” he begins “but in real life is different you know. I don’t know, I mean I feel like I would ask the questions that my character asks. I wouldn’t want to live my life in fear that’s worst than death to me”

You were a youtuber. What’s your advice for this young talents that try to make it in the show business through youtube?

“I think the instinct to use that media is absolutely correct. That’s how I started, I was just a kid who loved acting and making movies so I was just doing it myself, of course on a small scale, but that’s how you learn. My advice would be use that tool as much as you can and not to worry about where it gets you, because that’s not what matters, what counts is that you’re doing what you love and makes you happy. Youtube is just a miracle”

What kind of career you see for yourself and what actors do you admire?

“To be honest I don’t vision a specific career for myself. I think I just want to challenge myself by trying different things and learn as much as I can along the way. There are a lot of actors who inspire me, but it’s so hard to mimic somebody’s career because I feel like it would take away what’s so special about their career. I would never want to try and be them because I think they would hate that, but not as a personal thing, I just think it’s not what an artist should do” Dylan explains

You met the fame thanks to a TVShow, but you also worked in big productions like Maze Runner. What are the differences between acting in a serie and acting in a movie and what’s your opinion about this “TVShows age” that we are living?

“First of all there is a huge difference, you know, in TV there’s less room to experiment, times are shorter. In movies, particularly the ones that have a huge budget and so a lot of months to shoot them, you can do that, you can experiment. As for the golden age of TVShows, I feel like in the past 5 years, we’ve had better TV products than movie products and that’s amazing considering what I just said. With such a short time you can still have a great quality. Movies now are all about money and make something, even if it’s already been done, just because it sells, they regurgitate ideas instead of creating something new”

The characters of your TVShow are different, have you ever felt different in your personal life?

“When I moved to California with my family I was 12 and it was an interesting experience, I didn’t feel like I fit in, I didn’t feel like I had any friends outside of my family, I didn’t feel like I was at home. That’s what pushed me towards the Youtube world. That was the only thing that made me happy. Funny thing is that when I started doing it I was so scared to tell my friends and I hid it for so long because I was so scared of what they would think. Looking back now I hate that I felt that way I hate that I had to hide it from people because I was afraid of being judged. The most important thing is to embrace your differences and to go with them. Don’t let anyone affect that and change you. It took me a long time to realize that, but, you know, that’s part of growing up. Every artist is different and every person is different and embrace who you are will make you different and that’s amazing because you are unique”

That’s how the talented O’Brien concludes. Such an adorable and smart guy that just makes you want to talk to him for 3 or 4 hours non stop.

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Dealing with topics such as love in all of its forms, including the acceptance of one’s own sexuality, diversity in general and facing problems that teenagers face everyday, it is pretty clear that this TVShow became a phenomenon. The Glee sensation is deeply rooted in the identification that the audience is able to create with the characters.

Me and my colleagues had the chance to speak to the adorable Lea Michele at her press conference yesterday. What a lovely girl.

649 are the songs that the Glee cast sang in the 5 seasons. But you are also a musician and a music fan in general, so if you could have an ipod with just a few songs from Glee or your album Louder, which one would you chose?

“ So, I’ll just pick from Glee to make it easier. I love so many songs from the show, I would definitely pick Don’t stop believing, Don’t rain on my parade, I loved… Oh My God they are so many… I loved all the cast numbers that we did in all the series, a bunch from the Madonna episode are my favorite… It’s just so hard to pick a few, it’s like picking which one of your children you love the most, but there are always throughout the seasons, you know, songs that I say ‘they are my favorite’ then I sing a new one and I’m like ‘No, this one is my favorite’. But my favorite of all time is Don’t stop believing and also Don’t rain on my parade as I said. I mean, 649 that’s so many I can’t believe that… I must be very old.” she laughs

“I admire her so much, I don’t think I would be here if she hadn’t existed. She made the way for women who are unique, and I really look up to her. If not my favorite, Funny Girl is one of my favorite movies of all times” Lea informs

Your family is from Naples, Italy. Is this south italian tradition still strong in your family?

“Absolutely. We have sunday dinners and I’m so thankful because my italian family has thought me so much about how to really love. I’m so proud to be italian. Being here and see how kind and loving everybody is, makes me even more proud” admits

How much of your success is due to internet and social network?

“I really think that internet plays a big role. It’s a way for kids all over the world to get access to people that they love and interact with them” she says

We live in the TVShow era, do you watch any series?

“I just love watching TV, I watch everything. So I would come home after a long day of work, turn the TV on and watch a bunch of different stuff” comments

People goes crazy about you. Wherever you go, kids just go wild. Have you ever done something, I wouldn’t say crazy, but at least wild for one of your icons?

“Oh perfect, so you know that now there are more social media involved. For our generation it was hard to know where our idols were going to be. Now with facebook, twitter, you know where the person is so you can go and meet him. For me, I would write like fan letters to people I thought were amazing. You know, most of them were singers, I remember I just loved Alanis Morissette, Barbra of course, but for the most part, I’m more shy than my character, so I just look at them from the far and freak out by myself. But when I did meet Barbra for the first time, I kept it together at the beginning. The moment she walked away I started to hysterical cry” she explains

Your debut was in Broadway when you were 8, how did you keep yourself grounded starting in the show business at that early age?

“It’s a really challenging industry to live in, but for me, if I didn’t have the family that I have, it would have been different. When I’m at work, I’m at my work, when I’m home I’m not an actor, I’m just Lea, my parents’ daughter, my cousins’ relative, I’m who I am. What’s challenging in this industry is that people stop seeing their friends, daughters ad who they really are and they just start see them as the stars they represent. My family never looked at me like that, they see me for who I am and I love to make them proud through my work, but I just love being seen for just myself” she says

What are your future projects?

“I’m currently working on my second book and it’s going to come out in 2015 and it’s 50% done, I’m going to start my next album in a few months and I’m hoping to have that out next year as well. I would like to tour, I was planning to do something overseas this summer, but my summer just got so busy: second album, second book, 6th season of Glee… lots happening”

A lot of great stars featured in Glee with their music, which one was your favorite and the most memorable episode?

“I loved the Madonna tribute, I’m a fan so… The Britney Spears episode was so much fun. But when we did the episode with the music from the Fleetwood Mac, Stivie Nicks came on set and she watched everything we did. No one else has done that, you know, she came to hear her songs being sung, I got to sing her song when she was in the same room and we actually became really good friends” explains

We are approaching the last season of Glee. Rachel’s life has been a roller coaster she had bad moments, great successes. This character is really close to your heart so if it was your choice, what would be the perfect finale for Rachel?

“I feel like so many of her dreams came true, she got to perform on Broadway, she had a great love. I think that what’s next for her and what I would hope for her is just to continue to be happy and always sing and perform because that’s what she loves. But this next season, although I can’t say what is going to happen, it’s very special and it’s exactly how I would imagine the show should end so I think everybody will be very proud. It’s going to be really sad to leave her (Rachel) but it’s been such a pleasure” concludes

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The extraordinary beauty of Matt Bomer, reflects a just as beautiful soul. Leading role in one of the most successful series, Matto proved his amazing skills also in movies like The Normal Heart, In Time and Winter’s Tale.

His elegance and appearance, charmed us journalists at the press conference and all the fans rushed from all over the world to see him.

In Italy we’ve had a great “Bravo and Bello”: Marcello Mastroianni and Matt admits to be a huge fan of his

“I still remember the first time i saw the movie La Dolce Vita and i thought ‘Who is that?’. So when i had the chance to wear a suit on a TV Show i looked at his pictures. He definitely inspires my style” he admits

With a devastating politeness, it’s even more memorable the battle against the ex governor of California Arnold Shwarzenger for the LGBT community’s rights. But we also remember that they became friends after it

“Oh I certainly don’t remember that one” he interrupts

You saw so many people that came here from all over the world just to see you. What do you think about this Festival?

“I was just blown away and full of gratitude. I had no idea. I didn’t know what to expect and I’m just really moved and glad that I got to be here today” he confesses

The spaces between cinema and Tv Shows are shrinking, the two things are almost unifying. You are amazing in both, but probably, your Jackpot in movies is yet to come. What are your plans?

“I don’t think there’s this distinction anymore, there used to be. But it’s not what happens now. You see Matthew McConaughey who just won an oscar for Dallas Buyers Club now doing a television serie for HBO, because as artists we want to go towards the best story. That’s what i want to do and I won’t discriminate between mediums, you know, if a better story is in a tv project I would do that. Now i have the Magic Mike sequel to do and after that I would like to do projects based on stories that i want to tell as an artist” Matt replies

Some of the best actors out there, after they reach a certain popularity, they start to be producers of themselves, is this a theory or it can be a concrete possibility for you too?

“Oh definitely, I think that rather then just sitting around waiting for a phone call, it’s best to create your own work. I’ve been fortunate enough to be a producer of my TV show for the past 2 years and i’ve written scripts and sold them before so it’s absolutely something that i want to continue to do” he explains

What do you think about the main theme of this edition: Be Different?

I love it! It reminds me of that Oscar Wilde quote: ‘Be yourself because everyone else is already taken’. Authenticity, as an artist, is something really terrifying because it means really being true to yourself. But it’s really the greatest gift you have as an artist and i think that if you have the courage to do that you will be different and i think it’s a great thing to teach young people because they have a level of enthusiasm and heart and honesty that as an artist you want to maintain all your life and to teach them now that they are so impressionable that it’s ok to be different and be who they are it’s a good habit to get into and creates some amazing things for the future”

We’ve heard that you are part of a project based on Montgomery Clift what kind of research and how are you getting ready for that role?

“Of course I saw and read everything about him, but the most important thing for me concerning this film is that we do it right, that we do it in a way that he would be proud of that’s the only way I’m going to do this movie” he says

Do you think that Hollywood is different from this one?

“Yes and no, I mean there are filmmakers out there who understand that acting is acting and it’s about your commitment to the role. But i think that ultimately there is a lot of business involved, so they are always worried about money”

Now you are also a father of 3 amazing kids, how did this change you?

“I feel like I learn as much from our children as I’m able to teach to them. The amazing thing, speaking of being different, is that we have 3 sons and they are all different with the exact same out bringing and this inspires me as a parent. My job I feel is to be present and give them the structure to thrive into the world but also never limit them so much that they lose the identity that they came into the world with” he concludes

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The success that the tv serie Gomorra had, was incredible. It’s been distributed in more than 60 countries all over the world. Some people say that Italy (and Naples in particular) “sells guns”, but the reality is that Italy and Naples are still strongly able to produce such masterpieces. Now a days, the tendency is to throw garbage on these places, just to cover ours, but the truth is that this trash is all over the world. Naples is not just pizza and camorra, it is also warmth, generosity and unity. This year, Naples has also been Paolo Sorrentino that lifted the Oscar making everybody more proud to be Italian in this era where it’s hard to even feel you are a person.

This morning, the two main characters of the serie, Marco D’Amore and Salvatore Esposito, talked to me and other journalists confirming that this generosity and politeness can actually change the world that they described in Gomorra

“Look, I walked side by side with my character that is the clear expression of this negative places and actions. When I started, I tried to set myself free from prejudices. I can assure you that in this black shadow of violence and atrocity, I have been able to see such sparks of love, umanity, friendship that I wondered will I be able to live with such strength certain feelings? And this comes from something that is so negative” Marco says

“Project a side, the thing that really surprised me was the thankfulness, the caring, the love that we found in the places where we were shooting, considered the ‘Ghetto’, see, the good things don’t break the news. We spent nine months in this territories while shooting, under the burning sun of south Italy and all we found was solidarity, great love, care, those people opened their doors for us, gave us water, but see, nobody talks about that, well I do, because as a person, it touched me and made me realize that not everything is bad” Esposito adds

The producer Riccardo Tozzi, in an interview declared “We probably made the name of Gomorra dirty” (since some scenes where filmed in the actual places that the camorra negatively marked) what do you think about this critics that are actually bringing a lot of popularity to the serie?

“Well, I’m used to get my own idea of things, so what I’m going to say is that I’m an actor, it’s not my job to talk about this” D’Amore replies

One of the jury members of the festival, an 11 years old, quoted Che Guevara saying: “An ignorant people is easy to rule” what do you think?

“I totally agree. It’s hard to answer this question. I made a lot of sacrifices in my life to study and get to this point, if mine could be an example that would be my answer”Marco says

Do you think that the fame that Gomorra reached, it’s given especially from this criticism?

“No, I think that the success comes from the quality on the product. For the fist time, an italian serie has been sold in 62 countries and the most important newspapers compared it to the best american tv shows. It’s something to be proud of, the cast, the troupe, the production are all just great and this success just proves it” Salvatore comments

“It’s absurd to think that Gomorra it’s a place on the map, Gomorra it’s a place in our consciences, it’s in Italy, in America, in Mexico, in France, it’s everywhere and the proof on what I just said is that it has been sold all over the world because it talks about the world” Marco adds

What are your future projects?

“I am exploring the options” Esposito answers

“I made a movie with Luca Zingaretti and some other things and also I decided to produce a movie written with my company ‘La piccola società’. It’s a movie about the tragedy of ETERNIT. Everybody said ‘You are not going to make it’, I just want to say ‘See you next year at the Giffoni Film Festival where there will be the premiere, because I’m going to make it” D’Amore concludes